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Watching TV Lyrics

Artist: Roger Waters
Album: Amused To Death

We were watching T.V.Watching T.V.We were Watching T.V.Watching T.V.In Tiananmen SquareLost my baby thereMy yellow roseIn her bloodstained clothesShe was a short order pastry chefIn a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tidewayShe had shiny hairShe was the daughter of an engineerWon't you shed a tearFor my yellow roseMy yellow roseIn her bloodstained clothesShe had perfect breastsShe had high hopesShe had almond eyesShe had yellow thighsShe was a student of philosophyWon't you grieve with meFor my yellow roseShed a tearFor her bloodstained clothesShe had shiny hairShe had perfect breastsShe had high hopesShe had almond eyesShe had yellow thighsShe was the daughter of an engineerSo get out your pistolsGet out your stonesGet out your knivesCut them to the boneThey are the lackeys of the grocer's machineThey built the dark satanic millsThat manufacture hell on earthThey bought the front row seats on CalvaryThey are irrelevant to meBut I grieve for my sisterPeople of ChinaDo not forget do not forgetThe children who died for youLong live the RepublicDid we do anything after thisI've a feeling we didWe were watching T.V.Watching T.V.We were watching T.V.Watching T.V.She wore a white bandanna that saidFreedom nowShe thought the Great Wall of ChinaWould come tumbling downShe was a studentHer father was an engineerWon't you shed a tearFor my yellow roseMy yellow roseIn her bloodstained clothesHer grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shekThat no-good low-down dirty ratWho used to order his troopsTo fire on the women and childrenImagine that imagine thatAnd in the spring of '48Mao Tse-tung got quite irateAnd he kicked that old dictator ChiangOut of the state of ChinaChiang Kai-shek came down in FormosaAnd they armed the island of QuemoyAnd the shells were flying across the China SeaAnd they turned Formosa into a shoe factoryCalled TaiwanAnd she is different from Cro-Magnon manShe's different from Anne BoleynShe is different from the RosenbergsAnd from the unknown JewShe is different from the unknown NicaraguanHalf superstar half victimShe's a victor star conceptually newAnd she is different from the DodoAnd from the KankanbonoShe is different from the AztecAnd from the CherokeeShe's everybody's sisterShe's symbolic of our failureShe's the one in fifty millionWho can help us to be freeBecause she died on T.V.And I grieve for my sister

Comments/Interpretations

by shahab on 7/2/2008 5:36amawesome. made me cry! shedding tears.

by Ratty on 10/2/2008 12:31pmWho is this song about and why did Roger Waters write this song?

by ctelendil on 10/15/2008 6:57amI believe the song refers to a protester in Tianenmen Square who Waters saw killed live on television during the protests.

I think his point is that there have been millions of senseless murders and preventable deaths throughout history, but it is easy for us to ignore them because we didn't see them occur. In contrast, this woman was killed on television, and her death should move us to take action.

by Carly on 2/27/2009 4:04amI think Rogers point is that we only cared about the death of the girl who died on tv because she was pleasing to the eye, as he states about her perfect breasts and tiny hair. It is due to the shallowness of humans that we tend to synthesize for "good looking" people over "less" attractive people.

Hundreds died in the massacre in Tianenman square but the only person that the world seemed to care about was the girl with shiny hair who died on tv

by alvite on 4/10/2009 6:06amno comparison with the songs of roger waters....they r one of its kind..peace waters......

by Prabhjyot on 4/18/2009 11:14pmOn the Top - Nothing like Water's compositions.They just rock.

by tom on 8/15/2010 12:14amRoger's song gives a life setting, a family lineage, and voice to one of the many humans killed during the crackdown. For the Tiananmen protesters or the man who stood in front of the tanks to do what they did took incredible courage and spirit. Wish I could have met them.

by The Reality Project on 8/16/2011 12:35amIt's a great song, like many of Waters', but like many of his songs it's also very inaccurate. He bizarrely glorifies Chairman Mao (whose murderous 'reforms' caused the deaths of millions of students and intellectuals, and whose hardliners were the ones who cracked down on the Tianmen protesters) and singles out Chiang Kai-Shek as a 'dirty rat' when the Nationalist Army was far less brutal than the communist.

Waters is hard to take as you get older, because the songs are still powerful. But then you realize that he's singing lies, or that he's basically saying (like "When the Tygers Broke Free") that he'd rather have his dad alive than have Nazism defeated. Bit selfish, innit?

by tentonz on 6/8/2012 4:07amAwesome song by an absolute musical genius, but Reality Project, dont ya think Rog could have been assuming the opinion of the girl's grandpa, i thinks mao and chiang hai-shek are made out to be as bad as each other- war hungry megalomaniacs. As a side note, kankanbono as mentioned are a tribe dicussed in Galapagos, a fictional work by Kurt Vonnegut... who happens to be one of my favorite authors.... kind of like Roger in a way. So if you like Roger, try reading Kurt.

by Giorgio on 6/22/2013 3:03amObviously refers to the student revolt in Tiennammen square where many lost their lives. Students fought for the freedom of many while at a distance, in comfort and indifference some just "watch the TV". Waters is obsessed by man's thirst of power and indifference to human sufference. The almond eyed girl is just the symbol of human folly and indifference. Very pertinent to Floyd's "The Final Cut". Brilliant and touching.

by shai hulud on 9/23/2013 12:38pmthe reality project...you are just like reality tv: fucking stupid...

by mark leslie on 1/29/2014 2:48amIt's is easy to see why Roger Waters amused to death did not get the air time and recognition he deserves as there is far too much truth in his lyrics that do not suet a lot of country's agendas .but don't be afraid it's only what God wants so we are told.time to put religion in the bin and rid people of it's opium addictions that the governments uses for ill gain when it suits them and the people follow with blind faith and call them sheep